May 5, 2015

Towns would have more regulatory authority over solar energy
projects under a proposal in the Senate.

The Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee added a
provision to the state’s renewable energy bill, H.40, that
allows towns to adopt bylaws requiring solar developers to comply with setback
and screening requirements.

The committee passed the bill 4-1. Senate Finance will now
take up the legislation.

Local setback and screening requirements would apply to
solar projects beginning July 1, 2016, unless lawmakers come up with an
alternative energy siting proposal next year.

The default is designed to let towns know lawmakers plan to
address how and where solar projects are built in Vermont.

Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, chair of the Senate Natural
Resources and Energy Committee, voted the state’s renewable energy bill, H.40,
out of his committee on Friday.

“We have now set a default. Changes will be made,” said
Committee Chair Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, who originally proposed a summer working
group that would have reported back with legislation next year.

“There will be
more deference to municipal planning and zoning if there’s no further
legislative action. So I thought it was a compromise.”

Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex/Orleans, voted against H.40
because the regulations don’t take effect this year.

Lawmakers have been trying to give towns and property owners
more input in the siting of solar developments.

Jim Walsh, a New Haven selectboard member, said the town is
challenging a solar project before the Public Service Board. The Senate’s
siting proposal would not address the issue in a timely manner, he said.

More projects are currently proposed in the Addison County
town, and Walsh says the provision asks towns to do a lot of planning work
without certainty that the law will be upheld next year.

Proposals to change the state’s process for siting energy
projects received strong pushback from the renewable energy industry and many
environmental advocates.

Gabrielle Stebbins, executive director of Renewable
Energy Vermont, said it is highly likely the group will now oppose the state’s
renewable energy bill in its entirety.

She said some towns may adopt town plans that effectively
prohibit new solar projects through restrictive setback and screening
standards. The bill states towns cannot set requirements that prohibit or have
the effect of prohibiting certain projects. But Stebbins said this opens up the
possibility for disagreement and litigation.

“It will make it more uncertain for development,” she said.
“It will essentially make our state (renewable energy) goals far more difficult
to reach.”

Darren
Springer, deputy commissioner for the Public Service Department, said he
opposed the solar screening and setback provision. He said it is unclear who
determines whether town plans “effectively” prohibit certain projects.

“It’s unclear if that creates a whole stream of litigation
around that question.” he said. “The consequences of it, I believe, are not
clear.”

He did not say whether the department would support the bill
as a whole with the amendment.

The bill, known as RESET, requires utilities to sell a
certain percentage of their electricity as renewable. Some of that electricity
would have to come from wind and solar farms in Vermont. Most utilities would
also have to reduce their customers’ fossil fuel consumption.

The bill also repeals Vermont’s current renewable energy
program, SPEED. The state could face a 6 percent rate increase if changes
are not made to the law, the department says.

Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier, chair of the House
Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, passed
the bill out of his committee in February. The day the House voted on
the bill, Klein said he was beginning to take testimony on the issue of siting.
The committee has not indicated whether it will vote on a siting bill this
year.

Klein has said he would not support a bill that is a clear
attempt to stop solar development. He has not discuss the bill with his
committee.